Pass it On Billboards Charity | Values – Pass It On

 

About This Billboard

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the last thirty years, Albert Lexie has left his home at 5:50 in the morning to travel ninety minutes by bus to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, so he can shine shoes in the hospital’s lobby. He uses the very same shoeshine box he built in high school shop class when he was only fifteen years old. Albert charges $3 per shine and donates all his tips to the Children’s Free Care Fund, which ensures that all children receive medical care, regardless of a family’s financial ability to pay for it.

Since 1981, Albert has donated over $100,000 of his hard-earned tips to the Children’s hospital. His annual income is only about $10,000 and he donates approximately $10,000 a year to the hospital.

Albert is a remarkable example of the value of charity—he truly is an everyday hero.

Pass it On Billboards Charity | Values – Pass It On.

It Doesn’t Have To Be Huge

So many people think working with a charity will take up so much of their time. First I have to say. . . I am blessed to have any time at all on this earth. I am blessed every time I  breath in and out. I am blessed when I am cold to grab a sweatshirt or a blanket to warm up. I am blessed to have the time to enjoy my dogs, be with my family, hang out with my friends, take a class if I want, read a book or do what I want to do. I am blessed, if I am hungry to eat, if I am tired to lay my head on my pillow in my nice bed. I am blessed. By now I hope you are seeing all the areas that you are blessed.

I am self employed as a massage therapist, I am in the process of building several other businesses. I have two big dogs to care for and family obligations to attend to. I am a very busy person. I am blessed to be busy with my businesses. I am blessed to be able to have two big dogs and take care of them. I am blessed to have the family I have.

If you noticed I never put in the icky stuff that goes on with all the above obligations and relationships.  We all know there is some.  We have a choice as to what we dwell on.  Negativity harvests negativity.  Positivity reaps the positive.  As I look at all my blessings, I have to ask myself  how can I  make time to reach out and make it a better place for someone else.   It doesn’t need to take a lot of time.  Consistency is always nice.  I make it a part of what I do, who I am.

Find a charity, whether it be Making It A Better Place or another organization that you can get behind and be a part of the mission.   Find out what they need for help and pitch in.  It doesn’t have to take a lot of time.  You control what time you want to give.  Make sure you have fun doing it.

If you are not crazy about being part of an organization do something nice, out of the blue for someone else.  Bake some cookies for your neighbor, rake some leaves for the elderly, or send out some cards to the military, shut-ins or people that are alone.  Just do something nice. Try it.  It is the best feeling and will put a smile on your face.

Kim

Happy New Year

Now that the new year is here we are gearing up for Thrill The World Charlotte our 2nd annual event. Details have begun to firm up so make sure you stay tuned in. Lots of volunteers will be needed. Making It A Better Place is dedicated this year to bringing small projects that you can become involved in that will make the world a little nicer and warm your heart knowing you had a part.

Kim

The Tradition…

Hello Friends,

Well Kim and I were up until 3:00 am last night brainstorming ideas for Thrill the World, Charlotte 2o11.  We have a lot of ideas and are excited about all the possibilities. 

This morning I received my weekly newsletter from my Chiropractor and it contained a short story that was right on target with Kim’s Christmas message that she posted last night.  I don’t know if the story is true or one of those “internet urban legends” but either way, the message is clear and relevant. I hope it inspires you..

Love and Blessings,

Anne (webmaster MIABP Charity Event website, Thrill the World, Charlotte

——————————————————————————————-

The Tradition — Author Unknown

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas — oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it. The overspending… the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma — the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else. Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.

Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t knowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse.

That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition—one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

Merry Christmas!

As the season has rapidly approached I was amazed to hear many people say they didn’t like Christmas.  As I listen with astonishment and wonderment as to why people have this  attitude, I realized it all stems around money.  I can’t afford to buy people presents, I don’t have the finances. Really people?  I think we have lost the meaning of why we celebrate this holiday.    You don’t have to spend money. Try giving of your time.  Visit a shut in. Spend sometime with your family.  Volunteer at a homeless shelter. That will show you just how fortunate you really are.  Give of yourself.  What better gift is there then your time and interest in another human being.  Celebrate the season and enjoy.

Kim